Device for packaging one or more containers,for instance for clinical samples,and at least one appurtenant information card or the like



June 2, 1970 LINDBERG ETAL 3,515,268

DEVICE FOR PACKAGING oNE OR MORE CONTAINERS, FOR INs'rANcE FOR CLINICAL SAMPLES, AND AT LEAST ONE RD OR THE LIKE APPURTENANT INFORMATION CA 5 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed June 11, 1968 3,515,268 FOR June 2, 1970 B. E. LINDBERG E AL DEVICE FOR PACKAGING ONE OR MORE CONTAINERS,

INSTANCE FOR CLINICAL SAMPLES, AND AT LEAST ONE APPURTENANT INFORMATION CARD OR THE LIKE Filed June 11, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 "'"""WMIIIUIII June 2,1970 UNDBERG EI'AL 3,515,268

DEVICE FOR PACKAGING ONE OR MORE CONTAINERS. FOR INSTANCE FOR CLINICAL SAMPLES, AND AT LEAST ONE APPURTENANT INFORMATION CARD OR THE LIKE Filed June 11, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,515,268 DEVICE FOR PACKAGING ONE OR MORE CON- TAINERS, FOR INSTANCE FOR CLINICAL SAMPLES, AND AT LEAST ONE APPURTENANT INFORMATION CARD OR THE LIKE Bjiirn Edvin Lindberg, Backvindeln 74 S-126 57,

Hagersten, Sweden, and Lars Ture Vilhelm Nordberg, Nykroppagatan 32 S123 46, Farsta, Sweden Filed June 11, 1968, Ser. No. 736,061 Claims priority, application Sweden, June 22, 1967, 8,936/ 67 Int. Cl. B85d 79/00 US. Cl. 206-47 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate-like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, said upper portion consisting of three lugs each extending along one edge of the mainly rectangular lower portion.

The device is particularly well suited for the packaging of containers for clinical samples and one or more appurtenant referrals or similar documents. Although the invention is not restricted to this particular field of use it will below be described with reference to its use for the above mentioned purpose.

The usual manner of securing a correct identification of a clinical sample consists in applying upon the sample container a label provided with information about the identity of the patient and usually also concerning the kind of sample. Said information is recorded also on the referral document which has to accompany the sample container when the latter is forwarded to an analyzation laboratory or corresponding place.

The invention is based on realization of the fact that it would be possible to eliminate the step of labelling the sample container if the container and the accompanying document could be safely kept together without any risk of being separated during the transport or storage thereof following upon the step of taking the sample. Naturally, one possible way of providing a certain amount of mechanical connection between the sample container and its related referral document is to wind the latter on the container and then to apply a piece of elastic card or the like around the arrangement so formed. Such a method has also been used within the medical care. However, the connection between the referral and the sample container obtained through said method cannot be considered sufiiciently effective which is proved by the fact that also in cases Where said method has been used the container has always been separately labelled. Beyond the unsatisfactory connection said method also has the drawback of involving a considerable risk of mechanical damage of the referral or its getting soiled during the transport. This disadvantage is particularly troublesome when the referral or corresponding document is of the kind adapted to be used for automatic data processing.

The invention has for its object to provide a device for packaging one or more containers and at least one related information card or the like which device eliminates the risk of unintentional separation of the information card from the container during the storage and transport thereof and thereby also the need for separate labelling of the container.

The device according to the invention is primarily characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate like lower portion having at least one recess for receiving said container or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and uncovering said recess, said two portions being arranged to receive and retain between them said information card in a position to cover the recess.

According to the invention the device can be provided with special stop means adapted to resist any unintentional withdrawal of the information card. The upper portion can cover essentially the entire lower portion except for said recess or it can be designed so as to cover only certain marginal parts of the lower portion. In the latter case the upper portion can for instance consist of three lugs each extending along one edge of the mainly rectangular lower portion. In order to facilitate reading of the information card even when the card is inserted in the packaging device it is recommendable to make the upper portion from a transparent material, especially if the upper portion of the device covers the main area of the lower portion.

The expression information card is in the present case intended to cover all kinds of information carrying means that can be used as cover means for a packaging device according to the invention.

The invention will now be described more in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a packagin device according to a first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device according to FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a device according to a second embodiment of the invention.

The device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a substantially plane plate like lower portion 1 having a depressed recess 2 for receiving a. container 3, and an upper portion formed by three lugs 4 each extending along one edge of the lower portion 1 and preferably formed through double-folding of corresponding edge portions of a plane blank from which the device is made. Between the lugs 4 and the lower portion 1 there are provided narrow slots into which an information card 5, e.g. a data card, can be inserted to close the upwardly facing opening of the recess 2. Thus, the card 5 will form a cover for the device serving to guarantee that the container 3 is retained within the recess 2. When the container 3 and the information card 5 have been introduced into the device it will not be possible to remove the container unless the opening of the recess 2 has first been uncovered through removal of the card 5. In order to prevent in an efiicient manner any unintentional withdrawal of the card 5 the lower portion 1 has been provided with two stop shoulders 6 projecting from the upper surface of the lower portion 1 and arranged to contact the edge of the card 5. Moreover, the lower portion 1 is provided with a recess 7 adapted to facilitate any desired removal of the card 5. The lower portion 1 has further two circular holes 8 making it possible to mount the device suspending on a special holder.

The main difference between the device shown in FIG. 3 and the device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 is that in FIG. 3 the upper portion has the form of a continuous plate 9 covering substantially the total surface of the loW- er portion 1 except for the recess 2. The upper portion 9 is in this case connected to the lower portion 1 along three edges thereof, while the two portions 1 and 9 are separated from each other at the fourth edge of the device in order to permit insertion of an information card 5 therebetween. At its free edge the upper portion 9 is provided with a recess 10 corresponding to the recess 7 in the lower portion 1 of the first embodiment. In place of the stop shoulders 6 of the device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 the device shown in FIG. 3 has two locking tongues 11 cut out from the lower portion 1 and adapted to be snapped over the adjacent edges of the upper portion 9 limiting the recess 10. An advantage of the embodiment of FIG. 3 is that it provides an improved protection of the card 5 against soil and so on.

Naturally, the invention is not restricted to the above described embodiments but can be modified in many diiferent ways within the scope of the invevntion. Thus, the design of the device can be varied to meet difierent requirements. For instance, the lower portion can be provided with two or more recesses, each adapted to receive one or more containers. The device can easily be made stackable through making the recess 2 slightly tapered towards its bottom.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the device can be made in a single piece, preferably from a plastic material, in which case it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs to such a level that the device can be used as a throw-away package.

What we claim is:

1. A device packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate-like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, said upper portion consisting of three lugs each extending along one edge of the mainly rectangular lower portion.

2. A device according to calim 1 characterized in that the upper portion is made of a transparent material.

3. A device for packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate-like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, said upper portion being made of a transparent material.

4. A device for packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises 2. preferably plate like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, re spectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, stop means adapted to counteract any unintentional separation of an information card, said upper portion consisting of three lugs each extending along one edge of the mainly rectangular lower portion.

5. A device for packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, stop means adapted to counteract any unintentional separation of an information card, said upper portion being made of a transparent material.

6. A device for packeting one or more containers, for instance for clinical samples, and at least one appurtenant information card or the like, characterized in that it comprises a preferably plate like lower portion with at least one recess for receiving said container, or containers, respectively, and an upper portion rigidly connected to the lower portion and exposing the opening of said recess, the two portions being arranged to receive between them said information card in a position to cover the recess, said upper portion covering substantially the total upper surface of the lower portion except for said recess, said upper portion being made of a transparent material.

7. A device for packeting at least one container and at least one appurtenant information card comprising in combination a plate like lower portion including at least one recess, at least one container within said recess, an

upper portion permanently connected to said lower por- 1 tion and defining an opening overlying said recess to permit the insertion of at least one container in said recess through said opening, said upper and lower portions being spaced from one another and defining an open end, and an information card positioned between said upper and lower portions in overlying relationship to said recess to cover said recess, said card being completely packeted and enclosed within the confines of said upper and lower portions, said opening end being of a dimension to permit said card to be readily completely removed from the device by sliding the card from between said upper and lower portions.

8. A device according to claim 7 characterized in that one of said portions has locking means thereon for preventing unintentional removal of said card from between said portions.

9. A device according to claim 7 characterized in that said recess is tapered toward the bottom thereof to enable a plurality of said devices to be stacked in nested relationship with respect to one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,985,296 5/1961 Kahn 206-78 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,014,946 12/ 1965 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner J. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 206-78 

